Arcana Coelestia # 4539
4539. 'Rise up, go up to Bethel' means concerning the Divine Natural, that is to say, the perception concerning this. This is clear from the meaning of 'rising up' as implying some kind of raising up, dealt with in 2401, 2785, 2912, 2927, 3171, 4103, here a raising up of the Natural towards the Divine; from the meaning of 'going up' as doing so towards aspects even more interior, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'Bethel' as the Divine within the natural, that is, within the ultimate degree of order, dealt with in 4089. In the original language Bethel means the house of God, and since 'the house of God' is a place where the cognitions of good and truth exist, 'Bethel' accordingly means, in the proximate sense, those cognitions, as shown in 1453. But because interior degrees are enveloped by and terminate in the parts which constitute the ultimate degree of order where they come together and so to speak inhabit the same house, and because man's natural is the ultimate degree, enveloping interior ones, 'Bethel' or the house of God therefore means, strictly speaking, the Natural, 3729, 4089, and in particular the good there. For 'a house' in the internal sense means good, 2233, 2234, 3720, 3729. It is also within the natural or the ultimate degree of order that cognitions exist.
[2] The reason why 'going up' means a raising up towards more interior aspects is that things which are interior are spoken of as those that are higher, 2148, and therefore when the subject in the internal sense is an advance towards things that are more interior the expression 'going up' is used. Examples of this usage are, going up from Egypt to the land of Canaan; going up into the interior parts of the land of Canaan itself; going up from any part there to Jerusalem; and when in Jerusalem itself, going up to the house of God there. Going up from Egypt to the land of Canaan is referred to in Moses,
Pharaoh said to Joseph, Go up and bury your father. And Joseph went up. And there went up with him all Pharaoh's servants. And there went up with him chariot and horseman. Genesis 50:6-9.
And in the Book of Judges,
The angel of Jehovah went up from Gilgal to Bochim, and he said, I caused you to go up out of Egypt. Judges 2:1.
In the internal sense 'Egypt' means factual knowledge which helps people to have some conception of things belonging to the Lord's kingdom, while 'the land of Canaan' means the Lord's kingdom. And because facts are lower, or what amounts to the same, exterior, while things belonging to the Lord's kingdom are higher, or what amounts to the same, interior, the Word therefore speaks of 'going up' from Egypt to the land of Canaan, or - when travelling in the opposite direction - of 'going down' from the land of Canaan to Egypt, as in Genesis 42:2-3; 43:4-5, 15; and elsewhere.
[3] Going up into the interior parts of the land of Canaan itself is spoken of in Joshua,
Joshua said, Go up and spy out the land. And the men went up and spied out Ai, and they resumed to Joshua and said to him, Do not let all the people go up; let about 2000 men or about 3000 men go up. Therefore there went up of the people about 3000 men. Joshua 7:2-4.
Because 'the land of Canaan' means the Lord's kingdom, parts further in from its border regions meant things that are interior; hence the use in this quotation of the verb 'to go up'. The same is true of Jerusalem in relation to all the regions surrounding it, and of the house of God in relation to Jerusalem within which it stood, 1 Kings 12:27-28; 2 Kings 20:5, 8; Matthew 20:18; Mark 10:33; Luke 18:31; and in many other places besides these. For Jerusalem was the inmost part of the land because the Lord's spiritual kingdom was meant by it, and the house of God was the inmost part of Jerusalem because the Lord's celestial kingdom, and in the highest sense the Lord Himself were meant by it. This is why one speaks of 'going up' to these places. From all this one can see what is meant by 'rise up, go up to Bethel', namely that 'going up' means an advance towards things that are more interior, the subject dealt with in the present chapter, [see] 4536.
Joshua 6
1
Now Jericho was tightly shut up because of the children of Israel. No one went out, and no one came in.
2
Yahweh said to Joshua, "Behold, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and the mighty men of valor.
3
All your men of war shall march around the city, going around the city once. You shall do this six days.
4
Seven priests shall bear Seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark. On the seventh day, you shall march around the city Seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets.
5
It shall be that when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall go up every man straight before him."
6
Joshua the son of Nun called the priests, and said to them, "Take up the ark of the covenant, and let seven priests bear seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark of Yahweh."
7
They said to the people, "Advance! March around the city, and let the armed men pass on before Yahweh's ark."
8
It was so, that when Joshua had spoken to the people, the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams' horns before Yahweh advanced, and blew the trumpets; and the ark of the covenant of Yahweh followed them.
9
The armed men went before the priests who blew the trumpets, and the ark went after them. The trumpets sounded as they went.
10
Joshua commanded the people, saying, "You shall not shout, nor let your voice be heard, neither shall any word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I tell you to shout. Then you shall shout."
11
So he caused the ark of Yahweh to go around the city, going about it once. Then they came into the camp, and lodged in the camp.
12
Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of Yahweh.
13
The seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark of Yahweh went on continually, and blew the trumpets: and the armed men went before them. The rear guard came after the ark of Yahweh. The trumpets sounded as they went.
14
The second day they marched around the city once, and returned into the camp. They did this six days.
15
It happened on the seventh day, that they rose early at the dawning of the day, and marched around the city in the same way seven times. Only on this day they marched around the city seven times.
16
It happened at the seventh time, when the priests blew the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, "Shout, for Yahweh has given you the city!
17
The city shall be devoted, even it and all that is in it, to Yahweh. Only Rahab the prostitute shall live, she and all who are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent.
18
But as for you, only keep yourselves from the devoted thing, lest when you have devoted it, you take of the devoted thing; so would you make the camp of Israel accursed, and trouble it.
19
But all the silver, and gold, and vessels of brass and iron, are holy to Yahweh. They shall come into Yahweh's treasury."
20
So the people shouted, and the priests blew the trumpets. It happened, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, that the people shouted with a great shout, and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city.
21
They utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, both young and old, and ox, and sheep, and donkey, with the edge of the sword.
22
Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, "Go into the prostitute's house, and bring out from there the woman and all that she has, as you swore to her."
23
The young men who were spies went in, and brought out Rahab with her father, her mother, her brothers, and all that she had. They also brought out all her relatives, and they set them outside of the camp of Israel.
24
They burnt the city with fire, and all that was in it. Only they put the silver, the gold, and the vessels of brass and of iron into the treasury of Yahweh's house.
25
But Rahab the prostitute, her father's household, and all that she had, Joshua saved alive. She lived in the midst of Israel to this day, because she hid the messengers, whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.
26
Joshua commanded them with an oath at that time, saying, "Cursed is the man before Yahweh, who rises up and builds this city Jericho. With the loss of his firstborn shall he lay its foundation, and with the loss of his youngest son shall he set up its gates."
27
So Yahweh was with Joshua; and his fame was in all the land.
